Elevator cars typically include a toe guard situated beneath the elevator car. The toe guard is typically rigid and up to two meters in length. A significant amount of clearance beneath the elevator car is therefore required to avoid bumping the toe guard against the bottom of the shaft when the elevator car is situated at a lowest landing.
Elevator systems have included a pit at the bottom of the hoistway, in part, to provide sufficient clearance between the bottom of the elevator car and the bottom of the hoistway. Typical pit configurations provide a sufficient clearance for typical toe guards. More recently, however, elevator pits have been eliminated or reduced in size. Conventional toe guards do not allow for elevator cars in such systems to travel as low as necessary.
One suggestion for addressing such a situation is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,288. That document includes a toe guard panel that is moveable from a position where the toe guard extends vertically downward from the elevator car into a position where the toe guard is tucked beneath the elevator car in a nearly horizontal orientation.